Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications

A project of the Southwestern University "Neophyte Rilski" in Blagoevgrad won one of the biggest prizes in the prestigious competition of the International Telecommunication Union for IT excellence in information society. The Bulgarian proposal was defined the most innovative and successful in the category for cultural diversity and identity. This is the first major award for a Bulgarian organization in this initiative.

The aim of the project is to present sports as part of contemporary culture. The activities were aimed at creating a dialogue between sports centers, associations, local authorities and NGOs. A Greek youth organization has been invited as a partner. The project encompasses the creation of a website and Internet pages in Bulgarian and Greek in social networks, the organization of a festival and a conference and the provision of new IT equipment in the sports museum to the University.

The Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications sent tender invitations in early 2015. The initiative has been organized for a fourth consecutive year. The projects in contest are divided in 18 categories.

Bulgarian projects of public and private institutions, academia and civil society which were part of previous editions have been pinpointed as examples of good practice and have been included in the year book of the global organization. In 2012, the International Telecommunication Union published a report on good practices that included 40 Bulgarian projects in the field of information society. In 2013 fourteen Bulgarian proposals and initiatives were included in the report.